Kent Automatic Garages facts for kids
Imagine a time when parking your car was a big challenge, especially in busy cities! That's where Kent Automatic Garages came in. These special parking buildings were popular in many big cities across the United States from the late 1920s to the early 1960s. They made parking super easy and quick.
These garages let people park their cars for an hour or even longer. Back then, it cost about 50 cents for the first two hours. After that, it was only 5 cents for each extra hour. This was a great deal for parking all day! One of the first Kent Automatic Garages was on 44th Street in New York City. Another famous one, near Columbus Circle, is now an apartment building called the Sofia.
These parking places were very handy. They used electric machines to move cars around. These machines could pick up a car and bring it back to the owner very quickly. The electric parker was a small machine with rubber tires. It would go under a car and connect to its back axle. In about 15 seconds, it could move a car 60 feet from an elevator, lift it, and bring it back. This saved a lot of time because the car's engine didn't even need to be started! The car rolled on its own wheels, but the machine did all the moving.
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How These Garages Started
Kent Automatic Garages were built with money from a company called Kent Garage Investing Corporation in New York City. The very first garage opened in February 1929. It was a huge building that stretched from 43rd Street to 44th Street.
In 1928, the Packard Motor Company sold a piece of land. This land became a 25-story Kent Automatic Garage at 43 West 61st Street. This building looked a lot like the Kent garage near Grand Central Terminal. This garage could hold 1,000 cars!
A man named Milton A. Kent, who used to sell life insurance, came up with the idea for these garages. He planned to build 15 to 20 of them all over the United States.
More Kent Garages Appear
Milton Kent announced a third garage would be built in Newark, New Jersey, in July 1929. By December 1930, his company had built a 28-story garage in Chicago, Illinois. This one could hold 1,200 cars!
Another Kent garage was built in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was part of a huge building called the Carew Tower. This building had a hotel with 650 rooms and a Kent garage for 750 cars. There were also plans to build a large parking garage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kent wanted to build even more garages, but it's not known if all his plans came true.
Why They Became Less Common
After World War II, many cars became much bigger. These larger cars took up more space, which meant the Kent garages could hold only half as many cars as before. This made them less profitable.
For example, one Kent garage in New York City became an office building in 1964. The 43rd Street garage was sold in 1960. It was changed into a modern office building with a new, glassy front. This new building had a lobby and more office space.
Images for kids
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The Columbus Circle garage, which is now an apartment building called The Sofia.
